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Sunday, September 22, 2013

Top-ranked Tide sleepwalks through Colorado State

Courtesy of a special teams touchdown, timely defense, and just enough second half offense, the Alabama Crimson Tide held off the pesky Colorado State Rams by the score of 31-6.

In a contest that felt much closer than the final score, the Tide, who appeared to “sleepwalk” through a large portion of the game, were able to score two offensive touchdowns in the final quarter to officially seal the victory.

Reminiscent of the season-opener against Virginia Tech, the Alabama offensive line struggled at times, and especially found the going tough in the run block department. Needless to say, because of an insufficient outing, the Alabama rushing attack was anemic.

Call it a “post-Aggie hangover” or simply not respecting the opposition, but in truth, the Alabama squad looked shaky and inconsistent. Right or wrong, expect a faction of Tide fans to do more questioning than celebrating over the next 24 hours.

While the sky is certainly not falling, the Crimson Tide have yet to play back-to-back consistent games. In fact, every game has looked different with no "signature sign" of stability in critical areas.

31-6 is still "easy street" on the scoreboard, but the important factor is not always that a team wins, but rather how a team wins. In truth, the honest identity of the 2013 Alabama football team has yet to be established and revealed.

Alabama's lackluster performance against Colorado State will certainly provide Nick Saban with an endless supply of "teaching tools" in the days to come.

Due to the injuries in the secondary, coupled with substandard performance against Texas A&M, true freshman Eddie Jackson (first college game) and redshirt sophomore Bradley Sylve were the starters at defensive back against Colorado State.

Rome wasn't built in a day, and the current edition of the Alabama football team is still under construction.

It goes without saying that injuries do play a factor when attempting to form chemistry on both sides of the ball, but thus far with the 2013 Tide, focus and intensity seem to carry an on/off switch. The lights need to be on at all times in order to perform at a high (and expected) level.

When Alabama welcomes Ole Miss to town in less than a week, something will need to change. The Rebels are an upstart and confident team with many skill players, especially on offense.

Sleepwalking is a dangerous game, and Alabama will need a good wake up call if they expect to survive the SEC. The opposition(s) will certainly not wait for the Crimson Tide to figure things out.